Fine Gael says anti-competitive practices backed by the State are making life a misery for tens of thousands of people. The Competition Act should be amended to give new powers to the Competition Authority, the party says.
The Irish Times has seen a speech by Fine Gael consumer affairs spokesman Phil Hogan TD, who will present policy proposals to strengthen competition at the party's conference today.
The proposals, which will include a doubling of the authority's budget, seek to oblige the authority to observe defined time limits in completing defined stages of investigations.
They also propose powers for "specified bodies" to make "super complaints" to the authority. This would oblige it to produce a report within 120 days of the complaint being made. Fine Gael says the Director of Consumer Affairs, the Financial Regulator, the Insurance Ombudsman, the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Consumer Association of Ireland should be designated initially as eligible to make such complaints.
The party will argue that the authority should be able to fine individuals and businesses in breach of the Competition Act without having to go through a court hearing. Fine Gael also says the authority should have a statutory obligation to state the implications of State actions for competition in the provision of goods and services in an annual report.
After saying he wanted to abolish the Groceries Order, Minister for Trade Micheál Martin has proposed to extend the authority's powers to include a responsibility for the ban on predatory pricing and "hello" money.